Wednesday 29 February 2012

Transcription:- Renders

Have near enough finished the model now, just need to do the head. The only thing is I cant mirror it over properly, it doesnt seem the same as it was in 2012. I'll get some help with it.



Transcription:- Robot Design Sketches

The final design of my character.


Front


Back



Designs for body parts


Joint concept



Shoulder contruction



Poses

 
I can now go back to finishing the bits of modelling I have to do without fear of the idea changing.

Transcription:- Influence's & Sketches of Final Character

I was looking at both organic and non-organic characters for inspiration. Heres what I found most interesting.


Influence gathered from looking at other robot characters


Influence gathered from looking at cartoon characters

I decided to move away from humans and looked more at animals and robots.

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Transcription:- Robot Model

I kinda started modelling my robot character, decided to go through with the robot instead of the boy.  I was finding it hard to decide which character to go through with and although the boy was a bit more interesting, I could see myself running into difficulties trying to portray that its actually a plastic object used to play music through as opposed to a real boy.

Progress so far on my robot.








Just the arms and head to go.

I havent drawn a finalised concept of the robot yet, im going off little sketches, will post that once its done. I'm trying to keep it simple and not stray off the path with a complicated model, this is so I can get that and rigging out of the way so I can move on to the animation stage, which is most important for my project :D

Transcription:- Initial Character Ideas

I think the idea of my character actually being the music dock, instead of having headphones on a person dancing to the music, would be quite clever. Ive seen you can get these fun looking docks in the shops.



I have already done a few little sketches of a character before this idea sprung to mind. I wont go off the original idea just yet, I might try to combine the 2; having a hip-hop looking male char dock?





Monday 20 February 2012

UPDATE: Transcription Idea Influences

Soooo....I havent been on the blog lately. Here's an update on my progress, starting with initial influences and early stuff.

After a talk with Alan, i've decided for my transcription project I am going to transcribe a montage of music into a short animation, styled a little like an advert. Since there a lot to do when it comes to making animation, I plan to keep the character and environment simple so I can focus on the animation itself.

Below are some things i've seen on youtube that I feel give an idea of what im aiming at.  I plan to make my character dance to the music.




This video "Dubstep Hands" is a something like a music visualisation but it also incorporates a person dancing and tutting in time to the music. His movements express what the music is doing, he moves faster as the music speeds up and does bigger moves at the drops.



The Transformer video, titled "How Dubstep Is REALLY Made (HD)", is a montage of clips from the film Transformers, orchestrated by a dubstep tune in the background. Transformers in this case is used expressionaty, as if to tell the songs story visually, thus transcribing it from one media to another.



Posting this robot video simply as reference




Again for reference on animating dance.

Saturday 11 February 2012

Mary & Max Film Review


Fig1, Mary and Max (2009)

"Mary and Max" is an Australian stopmotion production, released in 2009. Its written and directed by Adam Elliot. In the mid-70s, Mary, an 8 year old girl from Melbourne, Australia, gets in contact with a random person whom she finds in a Manhattan address book via mail. The receiver of the letter is 40 year old Max, an overweight man who lives in New York. The story is now clear, we see how these two very different individuals bond through pen and paper over the years.

Fig2. Mary (2009)

[1]"A very odd, very unlikely animated film from Australia that manages to be sickly-cute, alarmingly grotesque, and right-on at the same time – often in the very same scene." (Pulver,2010) The film is simple, but this simplicity does not take away from its immense visuals. Mary & Max is one of those films that comes as a complete departure from a lot of the other films made these days, both in visual and storytelling style, and is iconic because of it. Also, the film cuts deep in the heart of the audience, especially to those who feel they may not fit perfectly in this world. It gives a personal feeling makes us feel as if we are experiencing this for ourselves.

Fig3. Max and Mary, (2010)

Something particularly peculiar and interesting about the films story is the way it explores adult themes, and more so, the amount of engagement and understanding Mary shows towards this. Their letters consist of talks about mental illnesses and sex, while the story touches upon death, suicide, alcoholism and many other things a respectable adult wouldn't indulge so deep and meaningfully into with a child aged 8. Julie.D also sheds some light and reasoning on this point in her review, [2]"There is plenty of humor, some of it rather subtle, although the movie often surprises with how serious some of the subject matter is and the depth to which the filmmaker is willing to explore it. This is all aided by the fact that Mary and Max are each, in their own way, complete innocents who write exactly what they are thinking, whether it will hurt or confuse the other person or not." (D, 2010) They do, however, grow with each other over 20 years. These letters provide deep meaning to their friendship resulting in Mary coming over to New York to see Max.


Fig4. Max at a bus stop, (2009)


Looking at the film from a stylistic point of view, one might say it is a dark and dismal version of Wallace & Gromit when put side by side, but its also broken the mould and has become something else, something of its own. The characters are a lot more exaggerated, the animation more detailed and the story is something that will leave footsteps in your memory.



Bibliography:

1. Pulver, Andrew (Thursday 21 October 2010), Mary and Max – review In: Guardian.co.uk [online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/oct/21/mary-and-max-review

2. D, Julie (Monday, August 9, 2010), Confuzzlement* Abounds: Reviewing Mary and Max In: happycatholic.blogspot.com [online] Available at:  http://happycatholic.blogspot.com/2010/08/confuzzlement-abounds-reviewing-mary.html


Illustration List:

1. Adam Elliot (2009), Mary and Max [electronic print] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_and_Max

2. Adam Elliot (2009), Mary [electronic print] Available at: http://giftingdeadbirds.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/mary-and-max-2009/

3. Adam Elliot (2010), Max and Mary [electronic print] Available at: http://happycatholic.blogspot.com/2010/08/confuzzlement-abounds-reviewing-mary.html

4. Adam Elliot (2009), Max at a bus stop [electronic print] Available at: http://www.thefilmpilgrim.com/reviews/mary-and-max-review/392/attachment/mary-and-max-review